An Open Book is moving, but it's not going far. The downtown Wadena bookstore is planning to downsize, vacating the front of the Bernauer Building on Jefferson Street on Jan. 1 and reopening across the street in the front half of Stomp MMA. Owner Gillette Kempf's first bookstore in Wadena, which opened under a different name in 2006, ended up being too small to have the appropriate variety of merchandise to serve the community, she said.

The Wadena City Council reviewed proposed 2015 budgets for city utilities, the golf course, liquor store and, for the first time, the Maslowski Wellness and Research Center at a meeting Monday night. At the end of the nearly three hour meeting, City Administrator Brad Swenson said it looked like the enterprise fund proposals didn't require much tweaking. "I don't see anything too wild to change," he said. The council agreed to allow Swenson to meet with Public Works Director Dan Kovar to find items to shave out of the sewer budget and with Liquor Store Manager Tim Booth to iron out the deta

In the just-the-facts fast-paced world of journalism, we focus on telling the who, what, where, when and why. But given limited time and space, the "what" often overshadows the "who," leaving readers with a two-dimensional impression of the subjects of our stories. Who was Levi Roggenkamp? He was more than a 14-year-old boy whose life tragically ended after an accident with a handgun last week at his home north of Bluffton. He was a son, grandson, brother, nephew, cousin and friend to many.

Twin Cities-based Hubbard Broadcasting announced last week an agreement to buy 16 central Minnesota radio stations, including three in Wadena, from Omni Broadcasting. KWAD-AM 920, KKWS-FM 105.9 and KNSP-AM 1430 (which simulcasts KWAD for Staples listeners) are a part of the deal, along with stations in the Alexandria, Brainerd and Bemidji markets. "I'm really excited about becoming a member of the Hubbard family," Rick Youngbauer, manager of the Wadena radio stations, said Monday. Hubbard doesn't plan to make any programming or personnel changes after the acquisition, according to a news re

When Eric Robb arrived at the Maslowski Wellness and Research Center early Friday morning, he discovered a mess. An estimated 100 gallons of glycol, a chemical that's similar to antifreeze, had leaked from the boiler system piping onto the floor of the upstairs fitness area and some equipment. In an email to city officials, City Administrator Brad Swenson wrote some of the chemical had also made it into a first floor meeting room and lockers rooms. Service Master cleaned up the mess on Friday.

A woman who originally claimed to have been stabbed by an ex-boyfriend is facing charges after admitting the wound was self-inflicted. When the Wadena Police Department arrived at the apartment on Franklin Avenue Southwest Tuesday morning, the tenant, 47-year-old Stephanie Monique Evans, presented a single stab wound near her left abdomen, according to a police department report.

Allen and Suzanne Moe bought some land on the rolling hills of western Becker County in 2010. One major snag prevented the Wadena couple from turning it into an ideal vacation property: "The house that was on it was beyond repair," Suzanne said. So in the spring of 2012, the Moes - Allen builds and services pipe organs, Suzanne's a stay-at-home mother - purchased a 109-year-old home at a flood buyout auction. It was in terrific condition, Suzanne said, and it only cost $500. "But then we had to move it," she said.